Claire Roger, Dominion Post, July 27, 2011 "Dumb" rostering software at Wellington Hospital is making staff tired and stressed and contributing to shortages in some areas, the nurses' union says. Grant Brookes, a Nurses Organisation delegate at Capital & Coast District Health Board, said the software generated rosters that flouted the DHB's rostering guidelines. The problems had been going on for more than 18 months and affected "many hundreds" of staff, including nurses, nurse aids and midwives. "People are being given long stretches of shifts – for six or seven days in a row, they're being given single days off rather than two in a row ... " Dumb

3News, May 11, 2011 Tomorrow’s International Nurses Day will see New Zealand nurses campaigning for increased access and equity in health. The annual event is held on the birthday of Florence Nightingale, May 12. New Zealand Nurses Organisation president Nano Tunnicliff is concerned about the links between poverty and ill health. “Nurses have a professional and ethical responsibility to address health inequities and NZNO believes closing the gaps must be a priority for nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research,” she said. ... NZ

Mike Dinsdale, Northern Advocate, September 30, 2010 Three Whangarei public health nurses have been sacked for breaching Ministry of Health rules while vaccinating high school students, but their union is challenging the dismissals as "extreme". The three Northland District Health Board (NDHB) nurses were sacked after giving a third booster vaccination to up to a dozen students at Tikipunga High School on August 24. Under Ministry of Health rules, a "crash kit" which contains medical items such as oxygen and adrenalin in case of an emergency reaction to the vaccine has to be on hand. But a New Zealand Nurses Organisation delegate said ... Nurses

Elspeth McLean, Otago Daily Times, September 27, 2010 Nursing staff under pressure in Dunedin Hospital's busy emergency department are taking their concerns to management, but a quick fix seems unlikely The Otago Daily Times understands there is mounting anxiety among staff. Some are feeling swamped before they even begin their shifts. They are increasingly worried about the challenge they face to provide adequate care for high numbers of patients on beds in corridors. They say patients are staying too long in the department because the wards are too busy to take them. ... Pressure

Voxy News Engine, September 24, 2010 The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) is encouraging its members to vote for nurses who are standing for election to district health boards (DHB). President Nano Tunnicliff says nurses are the frontline health professionals with the greatest knowledge of patients' needs and with the best understanding of health services and how they are provided. "Put simply, nurses know what works for patients and what doesn't in our health services. They also understand the needs of the nursing workforce, which is the largest workforce in the health sector. They can provide strong clinical leadership at board level," she said. ... NZNO

Radio New Zealand, August 20, 2010 Introducing lean business-thinking to health is giving nurses more time with patients, according to hospital managers. They say it has been achieved through the rollout of a programme known as "The Productive Ward: Time to Care" at district health boards. The programme, adopted from the United Kingdom, gives nurses the opportunity to think about how wards are run and to re-arrange things to encourage efficiency and boost safety. It has seen rationalisation of stock, including bandages and dressings, as well as linen at Waikato DHB. ... Nurses

Naomi Arnold, The Nelson Mail, May 29, 2010 Hiring a private nurse to help care for a patient in Nelson Hospital is one of the "most distressing things I've ever heard of", says Labour health spokeswoman Ruth Dyson. The Nelson Mail reported yesterday that a nurse at Nelson Hospital had told Golden Bay resident Victoria Davis that they were too busy to give her mother the care she needed, and suggested that she hire a private nurse. Ms Davis paid a private nurse $100 a day for 10 days to come into the hospital to look after her mother, Josephine Fargo. Mrs Fargo was recovering from a severe bladder infection that had spread to her blood ... Dyson

Radio New Zealand, May 29, 2010 Nelson Marlborough District Health Board is investigating claims that a woman had to pay a private nurse to care for her mother in Nelson Hospital. Golden Bay resident Victoria Davis says nurses at the hospital told her in February they were too short staffed to care properly for the seriously ill patient. Ms Davis says she was advised to hire help if she couldn't provide it herself. She says she paid a private nurse for 10 days and believes her mother would not have recovered from a life threatening infection without the additional care. Ms Davis lodged a complaint with the District Health Board last week. The DHB says it is taking the complaint seriously but won't comment further. Copyright © 2010 Radio New Zealand

Naomi Arnold, The Nelson Mail, May 28, 2010 Golden Bay resident Victoria Davis spent $1000 hiring a nurse to care for her mother in Nelson Hospital after she says staff told her to hire outside help because they were too overworked to look after her. Ms Davis is also angered that a Nelson rest home missed the severe bladder infection that landed her mother, 87-year-old Josephine Fargo, in hospital with septicaemia when the infection spread to her blood. She's calling for the health board to take heed of nurses' working conditions, and hopes that rest homes will pay more attention to the quality of their staff and the condition of their residents. ... Hospital

New Zealand Nurses Organisation, August 10, 2007 The New Zealand Nurses
Organisation (NZNO) chief executive Geoff Annals has been advised by
the general secretary of the Fiji Nursing Association (FNA) that
striking nurses in Fiji will return to work on Saturday. Mr Annals has
been in regular contact with his counterpart in Fiji, Kuini Lutua. On
Tuesday Mrs Lutua was one of 20 nurses taken in for questioning by
police while staging a peaceful demonstration outside Government
Buildings in Suva. The nurses were all released later that day. At that
time Mrs Lutua reported that “nurses are not prepared to go back to
work until their wages are restored in full even though many are

New Zealand Nurses Organisation, August 8, 2007 The co-Chairs for the
Governance Board of the Safe Staffing Healthy Workplaces Unit, Jane
O’Malley for NZNO and Sue Wood for DHBs, today announced the
appointment of Vicky Brewer as Director of the Unit. Establishment of
the Unit was a key recommendation of the 2006 Committee of Inquiry
chaired by Retirement Commissioner Diana Crossan and comprising nursing
experts from DHBs, NZNO and the Ministry of Health. The Committee was
set up to develop a plan of action to address nurses’ concerns about
staffing and its impact on patient safety. The Committee successfully
completed its task and the work of the Unit will be to facilitate the

New Zealand Nurses Organisation, July 31, 2007 The New Zealand Nurses
Organisation takes a zero tolerance stance on all violence and supports
the proposal to use nurses to help identify and eliminate domestic
abuse. "A system of enquiry by any nurse making a primary assessment of
a patient, such as that in use at National Women's Hospital, is an
appropriate means to identify victims of domestic violence who might
not normally come to light," says CEO Geoff Annals. "What we are
talking about is not a simple intervention, but one that requires
appropriate training and facilities for safe and effective dialogue,"
says Geoff Annals. ... Nurses

Kim Thomas, Stuff, July 11, 2007 Emergency nurses are feeling "frail"
and "battered" in the fallout from a report into the care of a dying
man sent home from Christchurch Hospital. An independent report into
the death of Dean Carroll recommended customer service training for
nurses after his family complained about staff rudeness in dealing with
him. However, the review panel had no criticism of the professionalism
of nursing staff and receptionists. The report's authors noted the
family's annoyance that nursing staff involved in Carroll's treatment
refused to speak with the review panel on advice from their union, the
New Zealand Nurses' Organisation (NZNO). ... Nurses

New Zealand Nurses Organisation, July 4, 2007 Enrolled Nurses who began
training or graduated between 2000 and 18 September 2004 have received
the good news that Parliament’s Regulations Review Committee has
recommended the Government ensures they retain the title “Enrolled
Nurse.” The New Zealand Nurses Organisation complained to the
Regulations Review Committee that in deciding to change the title of
second-level nurses from “Enrolled Nurse” to “Nurse Assistant” for
those who graduated from 2000 onwards, the Nursing Council in effect
created two titles and two scopes of practice for nurses with
comparable qualifications. ... Good

Erin Parke, Dominion Post, July 3, 2007 The nurses' union has responded
angrily to a plan by district health boards to go to the homes of staff
claiming sick leave. New Zealand Nurses Organisation spokeswoman Glenda
Alexander said it was "offensive" that staff absenteeism was being
targeted when overwork and under-staffing were more serious problems.
"I find it interesting that DHBs are talking of absenteeism rather than
sick leave – there is an implication that nurses are not genuinely
sick. Staff are stretched at the best of times, so when people are off
sick there are simply not the casual staff to fill-in," she said. ... Nurses